JUST RELEASED: MAXQDA 2018

The QDA Software of the Future

The New Features of MAXQDA 2018

After over two years of intensive development, it’s finally here: We are delighted to introduce you to the latest version of our software, the new MAXQDA 2018.

And there are plenty of reasons to be excited: We have added over 60 new features, including seven newly developed analysis tools offering innovative ways to evaluate your data (view PDF of all the new features). We have also significantly improved many of our core features. Getting started with MAXQDA has never been easier, with simplified access to both new and well-known existing functions.

New Interface

All of the powerful functions at a glance: ribbon menu and tooltips for every icon

MAXQDA’s powerful functionality has a new look! But don’t worry, we’ve kept the classic four window design. Instead, we’ve replaced the old toolbars with a ribbon menu and integrated several functions into the windows themselves – right where you need them.

Meanwhile, we’ve also restructured the entire menu system to make it even more intuitive and easier to navigate. And if you’d like to see more of your data – instead of our beautiful new icons – you can simply hide the new menu with one click.

To make MAXQDA even easier to use, all the options in the ribbon menu’s tabs are not only labelled but come equipped with tooltips that offer quick insights into each function.

Seven New Analytical Features

Paraphrasing

Summarize material in your own words

Summarize sections of your data in your own words with MAXQDA’s handy Paraphrase mode. Paraphrases you have already written can then be displayed directly adjacent to the text, so you can always keep them in view.

The new “Categorize Paraphrases” function can help you create new code systems. This practical tool is ideal for inductively forming new categories for your material and is suited to numerous methodological approaches.

Smart Coding Tool

Manage coded segments quickly and easily

The categorization of data segments is a key function of any QDA software and thanks to its user-friendly four window interface and creative coding function, MAXQDA is already global pioneer in this area. Our new Smart Coding Tool takes this strength one step further.

This tool makes allocating individual data segments to codes that much easier, faster and – above all – clearer. Particularly in advanced coding stages, the Smart Coding Tool helps you check allocations, make corrections, and keep track of the overall picture.

Code Coverage

A milestone for many analysis methods

The analysis of code frequencies is one of MAXQDA’s oldest standard tools and represents a fundamental component of countless methodoligcal approaches. With MAXQDA 2018, we have complemented this analysis approach with two new and universally useful functions.

The Code Coverage tool compares the extent to which coded segments cover different texts, images and videos. You can analyze the percentage to which a document – or only the coded parts of a document – are assigned to specific codes.

With its inbuilt statistics functions for generating and customizing tables and charts, you can process this information with MAXQDA and export it in several formats.

Code Configurations

… and “complex” code configurations at a glance.

This is a particularly useful tool for almost all forms qualitative and mixed methods analysis. The Code Configurations function enables you to quickly and easily display which codes occur in combination and how frequently they do so – and you can visualize all these results as charts too.

With the Complex Code Configurations extension, you can examine up to six dimensions at once! And as these results tables are interactive, you can click on a code combination to display all the data segments to which it applies in the Retrieved Segments window.

Twitter Statistics

New Twitter analysis functions

Great news for everyone working with Twitter: With MAXQDA 2018, we’ve massively expanded the program’s Twitter functionality!

The new Twitter analysis tool includes multiple filters that let you conduct a comprehensive statistical evaluation of collected tweets. Automatic charts offer information about a tweet’s reach, the number of “Likes”, and the date and time of their publication.

In addition to all the features available in the last version, you can now also include the tweet type (tweets, retweets and replies), the profile picture of its author, the language, device type, geolocation and all replies to a tweet in your analysis.

Comparing Groups Made Easy

Compare coded segments from several data sources

The group comparison feature offers researchers a simple and intuitive way to compare coded content or code frequencies across different groups. In the case of the qualitative approach, coded segments from selected codes for specific groups can be displayed side- by-side in an interactive table. As for the quantitative approach, the code frequencies for the individual groups are displayed in a crosstab, which you can then convert into a percentage representation for easier comparison and interpretation.

A new group comparison is created with a simple drag & drop of both data sources and topics (codes). MAXQDA allows you to use this feature not just for groups, but also for individual cases – or combined comparisons of groups and individual cases.

Categorize Survey Data

Quick analyses of responses to open survey questions

MAXQDA 12 already allows you to import surveys from Excel so that closed questions are imported as variables and open questions as automatically coded texts. MAXQDA 2018 also expands on the advanced processing of partially standardized and open surveys – in the form of the new Categorize and Evaluate Survey Responses function.

Similar to the Smart Coding Tool, this feature allows you to assign relevant codes to responses to open questions quickly and easily. You can display which responses have already been coded with a particular category and add comments to identify unclear code assignments. You can also code quickly and easily using drag & drop.

Extensive Improvements to Existing Functions

The New MAXMaps

A complete mapping makeover

A new look interface, four new and unique MAXMaps models, new options for directly importing coded image segments, memo texts and summaries, new free objects, the ability to save maps as PDFs and DOCs, and so many small improvements that we would have to write up an entire newsletter just to list them all. Curious? Why not explore the new MAXMaps and find out for yourself!

Transcribing with MAXQDA 2018

It doesn’t get much faster than this

Transcribing is a time-consuming affair. MAXQDA 2018 makes the job easier with a focused transcription view and automatic label changes for speakers whenever you start a new paragraph. You can also define your own shorthand symbols for words and phrases, e.g. where “1” changes to “Person 1” or “x” to “(incomprehensible)”. It’s fun and it saves a lot of time!

Already started transcribing with another software? MAXQDA 2018 lets you import transcriptions including their timestamps in the exported format of all the following transcription programs: easytranscript, f4 / f5, HyperTRANSCRIBE, Inqscribe, Transcriva, Transana, Transcribe, Transcriber Pro.

Video analysis

Filter, fix and link

Video analysis has become even easier with MAXQDA 2018, thanks to several improvements. From now on the display of coding stripes in the multimedia browser can be filtered according to activated codes, users and colors. So if you’re working with a large number of coded segments, you can concentrate on the essentials.

Coding stripes of selected codes can now be fixed at the top of the multimedia browser. If you have assigned a specific code to the contributions of a particular person or a particular filming location to better break down the video material, this code will be displayed at the top to help you navigate through the footage.

And you can now easily link any video segment to another segment or document with the document links tool.

Global Undo

Take it all back!

Undo functions were already available in earlier versions of MAXQDA – but they were limited to specific processes (such as coding, editing documents and making changes in MAXMaps).

MAXQDA 2018 takes this several steps further, because with the new global undo function you can undo anything MAXQDA. So now you can retrieve that accidentally deleted code with one click.

Additional New Features

Save anonymized projects

If your project contains sensitive data, MAXQDA 2018 lets you automatically save an anonymized copy of the project. A prerequisite: The sensitive text areas must first be appropriately coded. When you save an anonymized copy, all the text locations coded with selected codes will be replaced by XXX and/or the code name, rendering them anonymous.

Reports for summaries with coded segments

With MAXQDA 2018, you can now create reports in Word, which displays your summaries together with their corresponding coded segments in a table overview. For each selected code, the generated report displays the coded segments in selected documents in a separate column and supplements these with summaries in another column.

Interactive Quote Matrix

The Interactive Quote Matrix function allows you to display coded texts or image segments from specific source documents. These documents are selected and compared according to conditions for document variables which you can freely define. This allows you to quickly and easily compare the views of different groups on a selection of topics.

You can also view all your memos and/or comments connected to the displayed segments as a further option. And as the function is interactive, you can jump from the segment to the original with a single click to view the material in its original context.

Codes and coding

Display columns with variable values in the “Overview of Retrieved Segments”

Previously assigned shortcuts are visible in the property menu of a code

You can hide the display of a segment’s weight in your “Retrieved Segments”

Frequencies in the “Code System” can either show the total number of times a code has been assigned, or display in how many different documents a code was assigned

Assign or change code colors more quickly with predefined colors

Include codes that don’t have a code memo in the codebook export

Frequency tables and charts display more information about the number of documents and segments in which selected codes occur.

Statistics for subcodes: informative labels for easy interpretation

The Complex Coding Query now allows you to drag and drop codes directly from your “Code System”

You can display comments on coded segments right next to the document in a separate comment column

Intercoder Agreement: Analyze coded segments in a document against a reference document

Documents

Add selections from texts, PDFs or image documents as a new document to the “Document System”

Simpler and faster creation of new text documents

New text format option: “Struck-through”

Memos

Sort the “Overview of Memos“ by date and time of last memo edit

Summarys

Insert summary tables as a table document into the Document List

Display or hide comments, memos, and sources in visualizations

Visualizations

Create a Word Cloud of the most frequently occurring words from the content of the”Retrieved Segments” window

The Code Relations Browser (overlapping codes) can be limited to the segments in your “Retrieved Segments” window and can be opened from directly here

The Code Relations Browser lets you select filter codes so that only the coded segments that occur within this code are evaluated

Code Matrix Browser (codes per document) and Code Relations Browser: the size of the square symbols factors in the difference between the smallest and greatest values

Code Matrix Browser and Code Relations Browser: both allow you to change the code system display between a hierarchical or list structure; unactivated parent codes are ignored in the case of a list display

Document Comparison Chart: compare texts, PDF documents and media files of any length by standardizing the length to 100 units

Document Portrait: four new sizes for the overall portrait picture picture and you can choose either a square or rectangular shape

Mixed Methods

When activating documents according to variables, several new comparative operators can be used, including “variable value is less than or equal”, “Greater or equal” and “contains”. These additions are also useful for other processes, such as creating a quote matrix or crosstab

Create a quote matrix for your coded segments and comments or only comments

Quote matrix shows information about the number of documents in each column heading

Quantitizing: Transform all activated codes into document variables at once

Crosstab: Display codes with a “collapsible” hierarchy so that subcodes can be aggregated

Search in Text

Easier entry of multiple search terms using the return key

Your last search terms are saved with the project file

Save and load advanced search settings

A “beginning of words” option for contextual searches in the “Document Browser” and the “Retrieved Segments” window